This paper concludes that there is not enough information available to determine whether vitamin B6 and magnesium supplementation can effectively improve the behavior of children with autism.
This article reviews research on the effectiveness of vitamin B6 and magnesium treatment for autism. Some researchers have reported improvements in the behavior of children with autism that seem to result from treatment with vitamin B6 and magnesium. The purpose of this article is to take a critical eye to the research showing that vitamin B6 and magnesium help improve the behavior of children with autism. As a result, the authors have very high standards for the types of studies they analyzed. They found only two studies published between 1861 and 2002 were up to the level of these standards (Tolbert et al. 1993, Findling et al. 1997). Both studies had very small numbers of participants (10 in one study, 15 in the other). The study with 15 participants (Tolbert et al. 1993) used doses of vitamin B6 that were lower than in previous studies (200 mg/70 kg body weight per day or about 52 mg for a 40-pound child). This study showed no effect of vitamin B6 and magnesium on behavior. The lack of effect, however, could be due to the low dosage used in the study. In the study with 10 participants, a higher dose of vitamin B6 was used (30 mg/kg body weight per day or about 545 mg for a 40-pound child, Findling et al. 1997). The authors of that study concluded that vitamin B6 and magnesium resulted in no significant improvements in behavior. The authors of this review examined the results of this 10-person study carefully and found that vitamin B6 and magnesium did result in some significant improvement in behavior. Findling and colleagues (authors of the research) did not report this result in the study. Therefore, the authors of this review questioned the analysis and reporting of the authors of that study.
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